FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Darion Jones • darion.jones@portlandoregon.gov
Karen Guillén-Chapman • karen.guillen-chapman@portlandoregon.gov
PORTLAND HOUSING COMMISSIONER DAN RYAN WORKS WITH GREEN CITIES COMPANY TO SOLVE RENTAL CHALLENGES FOR LOW-INCOME PORTLANDERS
The agreement will provide 18-months of rent support and relocation assistance to help tenants facing rent increases relocate in June 2024
Thursday, October 27, 2022, Commissioner Dan Ryan facilitated an agreement with The Green Cities Company to remedy an anticipated rent increase for tenants within the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption (MULTE) program at the Prescott Apartments in North Portland.
“I appreciate the collaborative spirit of Green Cities to work with the tenants and our office to find a thoughtful solution,” said Commissioner Dan Ryan.
The Multiple-Unit Tax Exemption is a former Portland Housing Bureau incentive program that provided a 10-year property tax exemption to private developers who included affordable units within their projects throughout the 10-year exemption period. In 2017, the program was updated to align with PHB’s Inclusionary Housing program, which requires development projects provide 99 years of affordability.
In August, Green Cities shared notice of a proposed rental increase to tenants at the Prescott Apartments, which received a MULTE tax exemption in 2014. Although the proposed rates were below MULTE limits, because the rates at the Prescott Apartments had not increased since 2014, this resulted in more significant increases for some tenants.
Shortly after Commissioner Ryan was informed, he immediately began holding stakeholder meetings with tenant representatives, the property ownership and officials at the City to mitigate this unforeseen burden on low-income renters in Portland.
Working with Commissioner Ryan, Green Cities has offered to keep renewals for its MULTE tenants at a flat rate for the next 18-months and provide relocation assistance when the MULTE affordability requirement expires and rents move to market rate in 2024.
###